Beta
by eyha
Summary: We know that Kunikida eventually told Kyon about his crush on Tsuruya in their second year of high school, but would it have happened like that in the gender bent world? Such a dreadfully slow progression? Not if Tsuruya and Taniguchi have anything to say about it!


**Beta**

**I noticed that there wasn't really any stories about any of the other pairings from the genderbending of Haruki Suzumiya, and remembered that the romance between Tsuruya and Kunikida is apparently bigger there. So I thought, why not write how their interactions might have differed?  
**

* * *

Kunikida had doubted the wisdom of agreeing to Kyon's request to be an extra in Haruki's new movie (she was certainly not encouraged by Kyon's 'advice' to get out while she still could). Still, when she found out that Tsuruya - the reason she originally chose to attend North High - had consented to take part in this mad venture, she couldn't help but agree, and even managed to rope Taniguchi in as well.

If it was good enough for Tsuruya-sempai, it was certainly good enough for her too. After all, Tsuruya was far and away the best student in the area, perhaps even one of the best in the country, and she doubted that such a brilliant student would bother to help with something like this unless it helped his academic work in some way or other. Maybe he was absorbing the artistry of the film-making process and applying it to his own work?

Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on Haruki's idea of drama. The scene didn't seem particularly engaging or thought-provoking in her opinion, consisting of the evil alien sorcerer overlord Yuuki commanding his zombie thralls from the local high school to attack the secret time traveller Mitsuru, a combat butler who was masquerading as a knight (which only served to make him stand out even more).

As to why they both were there in first place, that reason was to Kunikida and, indeed it seemed, every other member of the cast except the 'great director' himself, rather more hazy. Apparently as far as she could determine, Koizumi Itsuko, the envy-inducing yes-woman of the SOS brigade, was playing some sort of Esper, who hadn't yet discovered her abilities, and Yuuki was attempting to recruit her for some kind of evil deed whilst Asahina-san was trying to protect her.

While the plot and setup was strange and nearly incomprehensible, the actual scenes and dialogue was as cliché as it could be, with the characters spouting the same unoriginal threats, boasts and one liners as every other action movie, and the standoffs were overdramatic to the point of ludicrosity. On top of this, the characters were one-dimensional and obviously type cast into stereotypical roles.

Overall, Kunikida failed to see what was so groundbreaking and artistic about this piece of work that made it worth taking part in. Maybe it was meant to be a parody of typical action movies? It was certainly cliché enough. Though in that case Haruki seemed to be taking the work far too seriously, complaining continuously about the actors not showing enough genuine emotion and acting woodenly.

In any case, directing and script issues aside, the movie seemed to be going fairly well. Kyon admitted that she had no idea how long the movie was going to be, but apparently they had already shot the first confrontation between Yuuki and Mitsuru and now they were shooting the introduction scene for Itsuko.

"Itsuko, stay back!" Mitsuru cried, though to be honest, he was looking more scared than her.

"Asahina-san what's going on?" asked Koizumi. Off in the background, Kyon muttered, "Since when does she know his name? It's not like they knew each before this."

"Minions, attack," stated Nagato, with no emphasis or emotion whatsoever.

"(I can't decide whether that is really bad or really good acting,)" Kunikida thought, as she slowly started lurching towards the twosome on the pier. As per Haruki's exact instructions ("Deviate from these and it's a penalty!"), they completely ignored Koizumi, much to Kyon's exasperated disbelief ("So they're going to completely ignore the person that they're meant to have come for?"), and instead walked around her to reach Mitsuru, who had been hiding behind her.

Tsuruya picked him up and slung him over one shoulder ("Kinda makes the other two redundant, doesn't it?"), before approaching the edge of the pier.

"Toss him in!" yelled Haruki, pointing with his megaphone.

"What!" Kyon asked, not even bothering to restrain herself to an undertone this time, "you can't do that!"

"It's fine," said Haruki dismissively, waving a hand, "toss him in Tsuruya-san!"

Mitsuru started struggling furiously, though futilely, thanks to the rather large discrepancy between his height and Tsuruya's. Still, Asahina's flailing limbs were getting dangerously close to hitting Tsuruya's head, so Kunikida decided it might be a good idea to help, and perhaps look more like 'minions' and less like a couple of confused onlookers.

She gestured to Taniguchi to follow, and hesitantly approached the twosome. Unfortunately, just as they had managed to grab his arms and legs, Mitsuru somehow managed to wiggle out of Tsuruya's grip, leaving them helplessly attempting to hold him up as he fell. Worse still, by this time, they had reached the end of the pier, so his struggles did little more than propel him into the lake, dragging them in after him.

The lake was very shallow, not even deep enough to submerge their torsos in their seated position, but it was freezing cold. The three of them emerged coughing and spluttering out muddy water, as Haruki decided to tack on yet more points to the already convoluted script, commanding Kyon to get closer to take shots of the three of them in the water.

A couple of minutes later, she was standing on the bank next to Taniguchi and Tsuruya, still dripping wet, the two girls shivering violently as they watched Haruki attempt to direct the next scene. At first he wanted Mitsuru to heroically pull himself from the water, then collapse from his 'wounds'. However, considering Mitsuru's inability to even stand up in the water; he was forced to amend it to Itsuko pulling him out. That accomplished, he then stated their next destination. Itsuko apparently was to take Mitsuru home and tend to his injuries.

Then, to their surprise, not to mention outrage, Haruki told them, "Alright, we're done with you now. Go home. We might need you later though, so be ready for our command!"

They heard Kyon protesting, "Since we had dragged them out here, we should at least avoid wasting their time!" Unfortunately, Haruki turned a blind eye to her complaints, ordering the rest of the brigade to follow him to Tsuruya's house, who had apparently volunteered to let them use his home for the next scene.

With Taniguchi grumbling and whining next to her, Kunikida prepared to make the fairly long walk home, presumably squelching the whole way. She was already thinking of the scolding she was likely to receive from her father. She certainly was going to think twice about agreeing to any of Haruki's schemes in the future!

"Heya." She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned round and nearly ended up face planting into someone's chest. She checked herself just in time, suppressing an undignified gasp, and stepped back to look up into Tsuruya's ever-present toothy grin.

"Sorry for letting you get dropped in. Why don't you come back to my house and get dried up? I've got some dry clothes."

"(What?)" she thought to herself, a befuddled expression on her face as she felt blood rush to her face and had to resist the urge to blush, "(did he even know what he was just asking? You can't just ask a girl to come to your house like that!)"

"Sorry," she quickly answered, cutting across Taniguchi, who had just opened her mouth, presumably to say some fairly idiotic and overly-flirtatious response, "I wouldn't want to impose on you."

"So, you're scared to go to a stranger's house," Tsuruya supplied, the smile on his face not decreasing in the slightest. An astute comment, one that she could only expect from the resident genius of North High. "That's great that you are so smart! But anyway, everyone else is going there, so there's no problem right? Or you'll get ill going home like that."

As if to punctuate his statement, Taniguchi promptly sneezed and started shivering harder. Kunikida sighed; she wasn't sure whether Taniguchi sneezed on purpose or not, but it was true that they would probably catch a cold going home as they were.

She smiled hesitantly, "I guess we could do with drying off. Thank you for your generous offer."

A few minutes of walking, accompanied by an apologetic Kyon - who told them on no uncertain terms that she was very sorry, but this was the sort of thing that tended to happen around Haruki - they arrived at Tsuruya's house, or mansion, as would probably be a better description. Taniguchi paused at the main entrance and whistled appreciatively.

"That's an amazing house sempai," she commented. Kunikida privately agreed. She had heard that Tsuruya was fairly well off, but not this much. What did his parents do for a living? She heard Kyon muttering something about organised crime. She certainly hoped not!

"Ha-ha, it's nothing," laughed Tsuruya, "Anyway, come in!"

They trooped in after him. The sumptuousness of his house did not decrease as they passed into the main entrance, which appeared to be traditionally styled.

Tsuruya reached for a basket by the doorway and produced slippers for all of them.

"(Wooden slippers,)" thought Kunikida, holding them up, "(this really is a traditional Japanese home.)"

Suzumiya rushed off, Nagato and Koizumi not far behind, with Kyon and Asahina reluctantly trailing behind them. Tsuruya moved to follow, but abruptly stopped, seeming to have remembered that they were still standing there in their dripping wet clothes.

"The bathroom's this way," he pointed down the hallway dramatically, before leading the way, "I'll get a maid to find something dry for you to wear."

Kunikida ran after him, spluttering that it was unnecessary, and that he had done quite enough already, but was quickly silenced by Taniguchi, who clapped a hand over her mouth before she could utter a word of protest.

"That would be sooo nice of you Tsuruya-sempai," she smiled flirtatiously, leaning forward in an attempt to flash some cleavage, unsuccessful due to the clinging nature of wet cloth.

Kunikida forced herself to suppress an exasperated sigh. She wished on some levels that she had some of her friend's confidence, but at the same time Taniguchi's antics in the pursuit of guys never failed to test her patience.

To his credit, Tsuruya failed to acknowledge (or perhaps even notice) the blatant flirting. Instead he stopped by the entrance to the bathroom, laughed - one hand on his head in a pose she had seen him take several times that day - and said, "It's really no problem. Have fun!"

With that, he wandered off, presumably to find Kyon and the others.

The two girls looked at each other, and then hesitantly entered through the door. The bathroom was a traditionally-styled furo, blending in perfectly with the rest of the house, and - as expected of Tsuruya's family - incredibly lavish. Beyond the initial changing room and showering area, Kunikida could make out the edge of a massive pool, looking more like a hot spring than a simple bath. Then again, maybe it was a hot spring. The family was certainly old and wealthy enough to have built the house on top of one.

Taniguchi paused to admire her surroundings for a few seconds, then shrugged and started stripping her clothes off in the middle of the room. Kunikida, who never had her friend's comfort in showing her body to others, thanks to a combination of late-development, modest bust size and natural shyness, hesitantly followed her lead at the edge of the room, quickly covering herself with a modesty towel after she had finished.

The first part of the bath itself passed without incident. Aside from admiring the very expensive variety of shampoos and soaps that were available, Taniguchi was remarkably silent, content just to relax and enjoy the experience. The bath was amazing, incredibly hot, but just cool enough so that it wasn't uncomfortable, and so big that she felt she could just melt into it. She hadn't yet decided whether it was a hot spring or not, but it certainly bubbled and smelt a bit like one.

Of course, the silence was too good to last. A few minutes after they got into the bath, Taniguchi turned around and grinned at her. Kunikida had the sudden sinking feeling that she knew exactly what she was about to talk about.

"So, what do you think about the guys here? Any of them catch your eye?" Taniguchi asked, a mischievous sparkle in her eye.

"Well, what do you think of them?" countered Kunikida, buying time to think of an answer. Hopefully, if Taniguchi was allowed to talk long enough, she would completely forget the question, "how would you 'rate' them?"

As expected, Taniguchi was quick to jump at the chance to give her opinion. "Well, you already know Haruki's ranking, but I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to know the rest. Now that I think about it, why is Kyon always surrounded by so many hot guys? Anyway, all of the guys in the brigade are at least A rankers in my book. Nagato-kun's an A-: kind of nerdy, but pretty cute anyway, and Asahina-kun's just - kyah!" Taniguchi suddenly put her hands to her cheeks, a rarely seen blush adorning her face, "so adorable. I just want to eat him up."

Kunikida smiled hesitantly. It appeared that Mitsuru's adorableness had managed to ensnare yet another girl's heart. Personally, she didn't see the attraction. She preferred people who were more confident and strong and smart and-

"Which reminds me, I still haven't talked about our gracious host yet!" Taniguchi suddenly remarked, causing Kunikida to suddenly burst into spluttering. "He's very handsome isn't he? Got to be a least an A in my opinion! What do you think?"

"Well... he's very kind, isn't he?" she answered hesitantly, "offering to let us come to his house to dry off and all."

"Of course, of course," said Taniguchi dismissively, "but that's not what I'm talking about and you know it! Don't you think he's handsome?"

"Err, w-well," she answered nervously, subtly retreating deeper into the water until she was submerged up to her chin, "he's certainly not bad, is he?"

"Hmm," her friend murmured in reply, seemingly suspicious. Kunikida had to quickly repress the urge to hold her breath anxiously, "I guess so."

Fortunately, it appeared that yet again Taniguchi had another failure of perception, and so continued on without comment. "Do you think we should get out soon?"

After drying and dressing themselves (she wasn't sure what kind of staff Tsuruya had, but somehow their clothes had been washed and dried by the time they got out. She didn't even remember anyone coming in), they returned into the hallway; just in time to catch Kyon storming pass them in a foul mood, angry tears in her eyes. Gradually, the members of the SOS brigade followed. First, Koizumi, actually looking worried for once, then Nagato and Asahina - who was tottering slightly - weighed down by the camera equipment, then finally Suzumiya, who appeared equally pissed off, stalking out with a red slap mark on his cheek.

"I can guess where that mark came from," remarked Taniguchi cheekily. She had wanted to leave right away at first, but Kunikida had insisted on staying to thank Tsuruya first. Thankfully, the spectacle passing them in the corridor had successfully entertained her, "what do you think happened?"

"I think Suzumiya-san went too far, as usual," answered Kunikida idly. They had only been in his presence a couple of times, but it was already enough for her to be used to his antics.

"You think he made a move on Kyon?" suggested Taniguchi, probably already imagining perverted scenarios worthy of a romantic comedy anime in her head.

"Who knows?"

Just then, Tsuruya made his appearance, interrupting their conversation.

"It's you guys!" He smiled broadly again, "how was the bath?"

"It was very nice, I can't thank you enough for your generosity," said Kunikida. Despite her efforts to project her voice confidently, it still came out very small and meek-sounding.

"We would love to use it again," added Taniguchi, putting special emphasis on the word love. Kunikida resisted the urge to sigh again.

"Sure, feel free to visit anytime," he laughed. He then opened his eyes and examined then closely, head tilted to the side like an inquisitive puppy. Kunikida blushed and looked down at her feet, silently thankful for the fact that her blushes at least weren't too noticeable.

"Come to think of it, we've met before?" he asked.

Taniguchi furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement, but Kunikida nodded, "yes, we were playing baseball together in that tournament..." she trailed off, remembering the incident more clearly. She had failed to hit a single ball, and missed most of the catches, as they flew well over her head. On second thoughts, feigning a loss of memory seemed a good idea.

Tsuruya laughed out loud, increasing her embarrassment. He was probably remembering how badly she played too. "That was fun! But those guys weren't very nice at all!"

"Really?" asked Taniguchi, who still appeared to be confused.

"Yeah! They shouldn't have been throwing so hard at you! That was too much."

Taniguchi nodded enthusiastically, "yeah, they should have been reserving that for the pros!"

Kunikida smiled faintly. So he hadn't looked down on her for failing to hit the ball. She then remembered a bit more of the day and looked up.

"Come to think of it, didn't you hit quite a few of the pitches yourself Tsuruya-sempai?"

He laughed again and rubbed his head in embarrassed modesty, "It was lucky timing, don't worry about it."

Somehow, Kunikida doubted that someone could have hit the ball five times purely by luck when no one else (aside from Suzumiya, who excelled - as usual - at baseball) had managed to even touch it. There was that weird period near the end when they all suddenly managed to hit home runs, but she decided to count that as some kind of weird accident caused by the wind, or something like that.

"Anyway," continued Tsuruya, jerking her back to awareness, "I never got your names."

"Oh," remarked Kunikida blankly, still a little flustered from the sudden interruption of her train of thought. Thankfully, Taniguchi saved her from further embarrassment by cutting in.

"I'm Akira Taniguchi," she said, flashing a winning smile, simultaneously nudging her subtly as a reminder to back her up.

"Oh, erm, yes, my name is Kiyoko Kunikida," she answered at length, feeling even more embarrassed.

"Well it's good to meet you again Taniguchi-tan and Kunikida-chan! You can call me Haruto!"

"Thank you Tsuruya-san!" Taniguchi smiled. Apparently even she wasn't quite bold enough to be as informal as Tsuruya.

"... Thank you, Tsuruya-sempai," murmured Kunikida. Taniguchi frowned at her, but she wasn't put off. Tsuruya may not mind being addressed so familiarly by people he barely knew, but a sempai was still a sempai after all!

If he was surprised by her way of address, he didn't show it. Instead, he simply laughed again and leaned down slightly to look at her in the eye. Despite this, Kunikida couldn't help but feel a little intimidated, as even then she still had to look up slightly in order to meet his eyes.

"So you're still a little shy? No problems! I'm sure we'll become a lot closer in the future!"

"I'm sorry," replied Kunikida, "I just don't know you well enough to call you by first name yet, Tsuruya-san," she finished, deciding that at the very least she be a little less formal.

"Hmm," Tsuruya murmured, frowning in concentration, "so you're saying that you would call me Haruto if we get on better, right?"

"Err, well, maybe,"

He smiled brightly and dropped his fist onto the palm of his other hand, as if he has just solved a difficult conundrum, "then it's simple right? You just have to go out with me and we'll be a lot friendlier!"

"W-wh-what?" exclaimed Kunikida, her face instantly lighting up bright red. Did he honestly just say that like it was no big deal?

"Hahaha, just kidding Kiyo-chan!" He laughed mirthfully, "You're so cute when you're flustered!"

She blushed even more and buried her face in her hands. This was just too embarrassing. Then, to her surprise, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Taniguchi crossing her arms and frowning in annoyance.

"That wasn't very nice Tsuruya-san," she scolded with her hands on her hips, abruptly switching back to a more formal method of address, "Kiyoko-chan is very shy; you shouldn't be teasing her like that."

Tsuruya ran a hand through his hair with a sheepish expression on his face, "sorry Taniguchi-san, I was being very rude," he replied in a suitably chastened tone, likewise reverting to a higher level of formality; Kunikida noticed that his usual lisp seemed to be missing. He turned to her and bowed down low in a gesture of supplication, "please accept my sincere apologies for any discomfort I have caused you, Kunikida-san."

"Oh, well, it's fine really," she said faintly, horribly aware of the fact that her blush had failed to fade in the slightest. She tapped her index fingers together nervously, "Taniguchi-san says that I should try to be less uptight anyway."

"That's good," said Tsuruya, looking relieved. Then his usual glimmer of amusement reappeared back in his eyes and he smiled, "I wouldn't want you two angry at me."

Kunikida smiled back hesitantly and looked at her feet again, lest her finally-faded blush resurface. The peaceful atmosphere was interrupted by the sound of Kunikida's phone ringing. She fumbled it out of her pocket and flipped open the lid. It was her mother ringing.

"Sorry," she told Taniguchi and Tsuruya, "I think I need to answer this." She pressed the call button.

"Hello, mom?" she asked.

"Where are you?" her mother bellowed down the phone - a mixture of worry and annoyance in her voice - loudly enough that Taniguchi winced too, "it's eight o'clock! Why aren't you home?"

"(Eh? It's that late already?)" thought Kunikida.

"Sorry mom," she said, quickly trying to think up an excuse, eventually deciding that (partial) honesty was the best policy, "I was running some... errands for my friends."

"Really?" her mother asked, somewhat sceptical. There was a brief pause, during which she held her breath, "I guess it's that Taniguchi girl again isn't it? You need to stop letting yourself be pushed around all the time or you'll never get anywhere in life!"

Kunikida decided to omit the fact that it had been her dragging Taniguchi into it for once, and kept silent, despite Taniguchi's outraged expression.

"Anyway, you need to come home; dinner's nearly ready and your father's wondering where you are. Come back at once!"

"Yes mom, sorry for worrying you," Kunikida hung up and put the phone away.

"Honestly!" Taniguchi complained in a huff the second the phone was put away, "Your mom is so rude! When was the last time I forced you into something you didn't want to do?"

"(Do you really want me to answer that?)" Kunikida thought, but decided against saying it aloud. Instead, she simply smiled and said to Tsuruya, "I have to go now. Thank you again for allowing me and Taniguchi-san to visit your house."

"No problem! It was mega-fun to have everyone visiting! It would be great to have everyone come again!"

"I guess we'll see you around sometime then," Taniguchi smiled, as they headed back to the doorway to put their shoes back on.

"Yeah," added Kunikida softly, with a small smile, "I certainly hope so."

Having said their goodbyes, the twosome made their exit, Tsuruya considered offering to escort them home, but reconsidered taking into account how nervous he seemed to make Kunikida feel. She seemed to find his presence quite intimidating for some reason, despite his attempts to lighten the mood with some jokes. Instead, he watched their progress down the path to the gateway of the estate from the living room window. He smiled thoughtfully.

"(So Kiyoko-chan was her name huh?)" he thought to himself, "(she really was pretty cute.)"

Several minutes later, Kunikida and Taniguchi were making their way back. Taniguchi was still gushing about Tsuruya's house.

"Seriously though, that furo was amazing! I wonder how they built it to look like a hot spring?"

"Maybe they actually built the bathroom over an actual hot spring?" suggested Kunikida.

Taniguchi paused, looking a little surprised, "Wow, I never thought of that! I bow to your wisdom once again!"

Kunikida inwardly sweatdropped, "(it wasn't that amazing,)" she thought, "(I'm pretty sure anyone could have come up with that theory.)"

"You know," smirked Taniguchi, "you would make a pretty good match for Tsuruya now that I think about it."

"W-wh-wha-?" spluttered Kunikida, completely floored by this statement from out of the blue.

"I mean, you're both really smart, your personalities complement each other and you get on really well! He seemed pretty into you too."

"H-He did?"

"Yeah! I mean guys always start teasing people they're interested in right?"

"(As if you have any experience of that,)" thought Kunikida, feeling a little guilty about the spiteful nature of the comment, despite restricting it to her thoughts, "I wouldn't know," she admitted, "what makes you think that?"

"Oh you know," said Taniguchi, waving her hand dismissively, "magazines and stuff say things like that all the time."

"Right..." said Kunikida sceptically. Taniguchi's theory was looking increasingly more dubious by the second.

Taniguchi apparently caught the doubtful face Kunikida was making, as she exclaimed, "I'm serious! Just look at Kyon and Suzumiya! They spend most of their time arguing, but it's obvious he likes her!"

"Yeah, but that's... just Suzumiya."

"Hmm..." Taniguchi frowned, "you've got a point. Suzumiya's just weird. Cute, but weird." She then subsided into irritable muttering.

Kunikida sighed to herself. It appeared that Taniguchi had managed to get sidetracked again. Oh well, at least it was more peaceful this way.

The peace, sadly, did not last long. They had just got to the crossing where they would normally part for their respective houses, when Taniguchi suddenly managed to snap out of self-imposed reflection period.

"Ah, I got distracted again, didn't I?" she asked, "That's no good," she continued, cutting across Kunikida's answer, "I never got an answer out of you!"

"What answer?" asked Kunikida innocently.

"What you think of Tsuruya, of course!" Exclaimed Taniguchi.

Kunikida sighed. Naturally, Taniguchi would remember at such an inconvenient moment. She decided to point this out.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? I need to get home as soon as possible."

"That's no problem," smirked Taniguchi, "I'll just walk you the rest of the way!"

Kunikida frowned. "Won't that be a really big detour for you though?"

"So?" asked Taniguchi, "I'm not in any hurry, and now I'm curious about your answer. Besides, letting someone as small and helpless as you walk on your own so late at night is just asking for trouble."

"But then you'll have to walk twice as far on your own. Isn't that just as dangerous?" protested Kunikida, slightly offended by Taniguchi's opinion of her 'helpless' nature.

"Yeah, but unlike you, I can take care of myself," Taniguchi smirked again and held up a clenched fist.

Kunikida resisted raising an eye-brow. She was a little sceptical of Taniguchi's claim, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't like she would be able to talk her out of it anyway.

"Fine," she sighed in resignation, turning right to head down the familiar route home, escorted by her overenthusiastic friend.

"What exactly did you mean anyway?" asked Kunikida for clarification's sake.

"I meant what I said, simple as that! Do you think he's attractive, would you go out with him if he asked you, stuff like that!"

Even though she had anticipated this sort of question, Kunikida still felt her face start to heat up and she desperately had to control her expression into a relatively neutral smile.

"(How can I answer that?)" she wondered, "(oh, I've only had a massive crush on him for ages, even since before I even met him, and only went to this school because he was there. No, that's not weird or obsessive at all!)"

"I-err, well, I think possibly... that I guess I would maybe agree if he happened to ask me out, I suppose in all likelihood," she said at length, deciding to leave a little ambiguity to not seem too interested, "ahaha," she laughed self-consciously. She decided to walk a little faster, pushing ahead of her friend.

She could feel Taniguchi staring at the back of her head for a few seconds, before she rushed after her. She put her hands on her shoulders, forcibly turning the shorter girl to face her, before putting on a very solemn expression and staring deeply into her eyes.

"Kiyoko-san," she said, with no emphasis or tone in her voice at all.

"Y-yes?" asked Kunikida nervously. She got a sudden impression of impending doom and had to resist the urge to shiver.

"WHAT KIND OF WISHY-WASHY ANSWER WAS THAT!" yelled Taniguchi in her face, shaking her vigorously back-and-forth, "I asked you whether you like him or not and all you say is that you might possibly date him if he asked you? That's not even close to a real answer! Now answer me, properly this time!"

"Okay, I give up - I'll tell you!" yelled Kunikida in a combination of desperation and frustration, her eyes tightly shut to avert her dizziness (and usefully, also preventing her from seeing Taniguchi's reaction), "I think Tsuruya is really a great person and I've liked him for ages. I mean, he's handsome, kind, and an absolute genius. What's not to like?"

She felt Taniguchi let go of her shoulders and step back in surprise. A long pause followed. She was tempted to open her eyes and see what expression Taniguchi had on her face, but to be honest, she didn't think she'd be able to cope with the embarrassment if she did.

"Really?" she eventually heard Taniguchi ask.

She hesitantly opened her eyes, but kept them firmly rooted to the floor. With an effort of will, she managed to gradually raise them to meet Taniguchi's eyes. They were questioning but filled with a strange sense of expectancy. Kunikida nodded softly once, and saw the expression change to amazement and excitement.

"Eeeeeeeee!" squealed Taniguchi in excitement. Kunikida just about had the time to give out a startled "Eep!" as Taniguchi threw her arms around her, "that's just incredible!"

Kunikida smiled painfully in her friend's uncomfortably tight embrace. "It's not that special, really," she said.

"Of course it is!" Yelled Taniguchi enthusiastically, finally releasing to continue their walk, "I was worried that you didn't have any interest in any boys for such a long time. I should have guessed that it was because you just had your eye on someone already! Honestly, for a while I just thought that you were like Kyon!"

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"

"She's surrounded by cute guys, as I said before, but she never seems to show much interest in any of them, doesn't she?"

"Well, I don't know about that," wondered Kunikida, "she seems a little happier around Asahina-san, and I think she was dating a guy in middle-school; they spent a lot of time around each other, anyway."

"Really?" mused Taniguchi, "maybe there's a little more to Kyon than it seems in that case. Oh well, that's not important anyway. The important thing is you and Tsuruya! When are you going to confess to him?"

"W-what?" spluttered Kunikida, caught off guard by the sudden progression, "w-why would I do that?"

"Of course you should!" Answered Taniguchi as if that was obvious, "You need to make Tsuruya aware of your feelings so that he can reciprocate. How else will your relationship get anywhere? Don't tell me you were just going to wait and hope that he asks you out by himself?"

Actually, that was exactly what Kunikida had been thinking of doing. While admittedly, the odds of him actually asking her out were incredibly low, she couldn't see any better ways of doing it. Confessing her feelings to him first? There was no way she had the confidence to do that!

"Aren't boys meant to be the ones who make the first move?" she asked desperately.

"Only if you're one of those old-fashioned people who think men should be in charge. Scrap such a sexist mindset and listen to me! How are men supposed to know if they should be asking you out or not when they don't even know whether you are interested or not?"

"Can't I just hint it or something?"

"Of course not!" Yelled Taniguchi dismissively, "guys are far too dense to pick up on stuff like that! If you don't tell him straight out, he's never going to figure it out!"

"I don't think guys are that oblivious Akira," protested Kunikida lightly.

"I guess they might consider the possibility that you like them if you flirt with them enough," admitted Taniguchi, "but that's still too slow, and besides," she smirked at Kunikida, "I really can't see you flirting with anyone to be honest."

Kunikida frowned, but didn't say anything. Flirting did seem a bit extravagant for her, but it wasn't like that was the only way of showing interest in someone... not that she was planning on using any of the methods she did know anyway. It was embarrassing enough as it was.

"So for someone like you, a straight-up confession is by far the best! Honest, simple and incredibly moe, just like you!"

"W-what? No, that's not true-" Kunikida thought she had finally regained enough control of herself to stop her embarrassed stuttering, but this latest comment forced her to lose control again.

"Of course it is! Someone as tiny and childish as you couldn't be anything but moe! You even outperform Kyon and Asahina-kun! I bet a lot of people mistake you for a middle schooler all the time!"

Unfortunately, in this, Taniguchi was correct. Not only had several of the people in the neighbourhood and downtown failed to realise that she was in high-school from her appearance, but on one memorable occasion, a couple of her own uncles had mistaken her for their one of their other nieces, who was still in elementary school of all places (It was a new year's party and they were a little drunk at the time, but even so, that was an incident she wished she could forget).

"In any case," Kunikida spoke up, in a bid to drive the event from her mind, "if you don't think I'm capable of flirting with Tsuruya-sempai, what makes you think I could possibly confess to him?"

"To be perfectly honest, I have no idea how you would," smiled Taniguchi somewhat sheepishly. Kunikida stared at her in disbelief, but this didn't appear to particularly put her off, "I was just thinking that you only need to summon the courage to confess once, so you might just manage to blurt it out at some point or something like that."

By this time, they had reached the street that Kunikida lived on and were standing outside her door. Kunikida sighed, "Thanks, Taniguchi, I appreciate the help, but I think it's best if I keep on going as I was."

Though it might have just sounded like a polite way of refusing Taniguchi's advice, Kunikida truly did appreciate her friend's help. She knew Taniguchi did, at the end of the day, want her to be happy, and this happened to be her way of assisting.

"(But it doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't be able to do that,)" she thought to herself, as she stepped forward to open the door.

"So you're giving up then?" asked Taniguchi, sounding so much like she was answering in response to Kunikida's unspoken comment that she briefly wondered if Taniguchi was reading her mind. She turned around to face her.

"What do you mean by that?" she responded challengingly.

"Exactly what I just said. You know what will happen if you just let this go don't you?" asked Taniguchi, a concerned, but defiant frown on her face, "Because I do. Nothing is what's going to happen. It's just going to stay exactly the way it is right now, until eventually he's going to leave, and then forget that you ever existed."

"Does he even remember I exist now?" challenged Kunikida, "because I highly doubt that he does. Why do you even care anyway? It's not like it's your business what I choose to do."

"It is my business to make sure my friend is happy though, and I'm pretty sure making sure she has a chance to be with the guy she likes is one of the best ways of making sure of that, even if she's too stubborn to admit it."

Kunikida stared at her for several seconds. She could feel her brief surge of anger fading away again. She never was very good at staying angry with someone, especially when they were only trying to help. To tell the truth, she never was any good at refusing people either. She sighed in resignation.

"Fine," she said, "I'll try it once, if only so that I can tell you I told you so. But it's going to have to wait for now; my parents are waiting, and dinner's probably already on the table."

Taniguchi brightened up at this almost immediately, "you won't regret this," she smiled, "we'll have you and Tsuruya-san together before you know it!"

Kunikida returned the smile weakly, "we'll see," she replied, unlocking the door and stepping into the hallway, "in any case, thank you for walking me back. I guess I'll see you around."

She smiled again, a slightly happier smile than her previous one, and drew the door closed. Taniguchi stared at the door for a second, before sighing and turning to head for home.

"(Kiyoko-chan really needs more confidence in herself,)" she thought to herself, "(if she just realised just how cute she is, she could probably get tons of boys asking her out – far more than I could anyway,)" she begrudgingly admitted.

Shaking herself out of her slight bout of insecurity, she looked up and smirked to herself, "this is no time for negativity, I've got a lot of work to be getting on with," she announced to the empty street, "Kiyoko-chan needs all the help she can get, after all!"

As she said this, both Kunikida and Tsuruya shivered as a cold chill ran down their spines. For some reason, they suddenly got the impression of impending doom...

* * *

**I was wondering whether to leave this as a one-shot or continue it from here. I guess I do have a general idea of what happens from this point and stuff, but I would still have to put in some time to figure out how to get there. Of course, to do that, I'd have less time to spend on other works that I am writing. So the question is, are people actually interested in seeing more of this? Because if so, I guess I may as well continue with it.**


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